Speaking & Events
Sydnie Beckman speaks on cyber governance, operational resilience, defense supply chains, critical minerals, capital markets, and the national security risks shaping strategic industries.
Her talks are designed for executive, board, legal, investor, cybersecurity, GRC, audit, mining, energy, defense, and critical infrastructure audiences that need practical insight on how cyber and operational risk affect business decisions.
Sydnie brings a cross-disciplinary perspective shaped by capital markets, operational risk, cybersecurity governance, regulated advisory environments, and independent research across gold, silver, uranium, and critical mineral equities.
She is available for conference talks, panels, workshops, executive briefings, podcasts, webinars, and private leadership sessions.
Featured Talks
Cyber Governance for America’s Critical Minerals Industry
Critical minerals companies are becoming more important to defense, energy security, industrial policy, and capital markets. But many organizations are still treating cybersecurity as a technical issue rather than an operational, governance, investor, and national security issue.
This session explores how cyber risk, operational resilience, third-party exposure, OT security, disclosure readiness, and board oversight intersect in the critical minerals sector.
Best for: mining executives, boards, investors, legal teams, GRC leaders, cybersecurity professionals, trade associations, and policy audiences.
Building Resilient Defense Supply Chains
Defense suppliers face growing expectations from prime contractors, federal customers, investors, insurers, and business partners. Even as specific compliance timelines evolve, supplier trust, operational resilience, documentation, and governance remain business-critical.
This session examines how defense suppliers can think beyond checkbox compliance and build a practical governance model around NIST 800-171, DFARS obligations, customer expectations, supplier risk, evidence readiness, and executive accountability.
Best for: defense suppliers, dual-use companies, manufacturers, technology providers, cybersecurity leaders, legal teams, and executives entering or expanding within the defense industrial base.
What Every Board Should Know About Operational Resilience
The most damaging cyber incidents are not always data breaches. They are events that stop production, disrupt customers, delay contracts, trigger disclosure questions, expose vendor dependencies, or reveal governance gaps.
This session helps boards and executive teams understand operational resilience as a leadership issue. Topics include ransomware, OT disruption, third-party compromise, escalation, disclosure, decision rights, risk acceptance, and board-level reporting.
Best for: boards, audit committees, CEOs, CFOs, general counsel, risk leaders, investors, public companies, pre-IPO companies, and operators in critical industries.
Additional Speaking Topics
Defense cyber readiness beyond CMMC: NIST 800-171, DFARS, supplier expectations, and governance
From SaaS to SCADA: understanding OT threats in the Mountain West
When a cyber incident becomes a disclosure event
Third-party and vendor risk as an executive decision-making issue
How critical infrastructure leaders can translate technical risk into board-ready decisions
Macroeconomic career strategy for GRC, audit, and cybersecurity professionals
Speaker Bio
Sydnie Beckman is the founder of Sturnella, a Wyoming-based advisory firm helping leaders in critical minerals, defense supply chains, energy infrastructure, and strategic industries make cyber and operational risk explainable, defensible, and decision-ready.
Her background spans capital markets, operational risk, cybersecurity governance, and regulated advisory environments, with senior experience across global financial institutions and advisory firms. She brings an executive lens to cyber risk: how it affects production, contracts, investors, boards, disclosure, and national security.
Sydnie holds CISSP, CCSP, SSCP, CISM, and PMP credentials. She also hosts Core Sample, a podcast focused on mining, critical minerals, defense, cybersecurity, and the national security risks shaping strategic industries.
Invite Sydnie to Speak
For conferences, trade associations, law firms, accounting and advisory firms, investor groups, boards, or leadership teams seeking an executive-level speaker on cyber governance, operational resilience, defense supply chains, critical minerals, or OT risk, contact Sturnella for availability and topic fit.
Upcoming Events
July 23, 2026
ISACA Utah Chapter — CMMC: A Practical Overview
Lehi, UT · Speaker: Sydnie Beckman
A practical overview of CMMC and defense cybersecurity readiness for professionals navigating evolving requirements across the defense industrial base.
This session will cover how companies can think about CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, supplier expectations, governance, documentation, and readiness as part of a broader business risk and accountability program.
July 24, 2026
BBWIC Foundation — Preparing for Hacker Summer Camp
Las Vegas, NV · Panelist: Sydnie Beckman
A candid panel of cybersecurity leaders sharing conference-survival tips, networking and career advice, and practical guidance on making the most of Black Hat, DEF CON, BSides Las Vegas, The Diana Initiative, and the rest of Hacker Summer Camp.
Hosted by the BBWIC Foundation.
July 30, 2026
Collaborative ISACA San Diego & SecurityStudio Academy Coffee Talk
Virtual · Speaker: Sydnie Beckman
An online coffee talk focused on cybersecurity governance, CMMC attestation risk, SEC cyber disclosure, board-level oversight, and the evolving role of cyber risk in mining, energy, defense, and other critical industries.
August 5–6, 2026
Black Hat USA 2026
Las Vegas, NV · Attending
Sydnie Beckman will be attending Black Hat USA 2026 to connect with cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, defense, OT security, risk, and resilience leaders.
September 18, 2026
BSidesCache — From SaaS to SCADA: Understanding OT Threats in the Wasatch Front’s Next Cybersecurity Cycle
Logan, UT · Conference Talk · Speaker: Sydnie Beckman
Bridgerland Technical College, Health Sciences Building
1301 North 600 West, Logan, UT 84321
The Wasatch Front is often marketed as a software and SaaS corridor, but the stronger cybersecurity signal may be emerging from somewhere less visible: defense, industrial infrastructure, energy, mining, utilities, and operational technology environments.
This session is designed for cybersecurity professionals, students, career changers, and defenders who want to better understand the OT threat landscape and why it matters in the Mountain West.
The talk connects regional macro signals — including defense modernization, industrial automation, mining, utilities, and critical infrastructure investment — to practical cybersecurity skills that are increasingly in demand across Utah, Wyoming, and the broader Mountain West.
Audience level: Beginner to intermediate. No prior OT/ICS experience required.
Key takeaways:
Understand the difference between IT, OT, and SCADA environments.
Learn why OT systems are harder to patch, monitor, segment, and secure than traditional enterprise systems.
Recognize common OT threat pathways, including remote access, vendor access, legacy systems, insecure protocols, and IT/OT convergence.
Understand why defense, mining, utilities, energy, and industrial automation are creating growing demand for OT-aware cybersecurity professionals in the Wasatch Front and Mountain West.
Identify practical ways to begin building OT/ICS cybersecurity literacy from an IT, cloud, compliance, or traditional cyber background.
September 22–24, 2026
Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit & Expo — Poster Presentation
Gaylord National Resort, National Harbor, MD
Poster Session: Tuesday, September 22, 4:00–6:00 PM
Poster presentation: “From Compliance Gap to Contract Risk: CMMC Readiness for Defense Tech and Dual-Use Companies.”
October 16, 2026
Cyber Cheyenne — Speaking
Cheyenne, WY · 11:00 AM
Session: “SEC Means Business: A GRC Guide to Cybersecurity and Disclosure Rules.”
Past Speaking Events for 2026
Elko Mining Expo
Technical Talk
When a Cyber Incident Becomes a Disclosure Event
A technical talk focused on when a cybersecurity incident becomes a governance, disclosure, investor, and executive decision-making issue. The session explored how cyber events can move beyond IT response and create implications for leadership, boards, legal teams, and public-company readiness.
ISACA Phoenix
Workshop
Pivot With Purpose: Macroeconomic Career Strategy for GRC & Audit Professionals
A workshop for GRC, audit, and cybersecurity professionals on using macroeconomic signals, market demand, personal strengths, and career strategy to make more intentional professional moves.
BSidesSLC
Conference Talk
Pivot With Purpose: Future-Proofing Your Cybersecurity Career
The macro signals in cybersecurity are shifting faster than most professionals realize. In this talk, Sydnie Beckman walked through how to read those signals early, identify where genuine demand is growing, and position yourself at the intersection of what you love, what you do exceptionally well, and where the market is actually heading — before the wave forms and the competition catches up.
Whether someone works directly in cybersecurity or in an adjacent field, the framework is designed to help professionals make more strategic, resilient, and purpose-driven career decisions.
Contact
Reach out for discreet advisory support
contact@sturnellahq.com
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